United States: Practitioners Take Part in San Francisco Columbus Day Parade

On October 10th, 2004, Bay Area Falun Gong practitioners took part in the 136th Columbus Day Parade in San Francisco and received a warm welcome from organisers and spectators. The host let a practitioner hold the microphone and introduce Falun Gong to the audience.

Falun Gong procession

Exercise demonstration on the float	Exercise demonstration	Celestial maiden dance

The organiser said that this annual Columbus Day parade has the longest history in the US for an Italian-American event and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. It is also one of the most notable large-scale parades in northern California. This year, the Falun Gong practitioners participated in the parade for the second time.

Along the streets, the float, waist-drummers, and dancers dressed as "seven celestial maidens" received a lot of warm applause. A practitioner introduced Falun Gong to spectators in both English and Chinese along the way.

The host lets a practitioner introduce Falun Gong	Passionate spectators	Passionate spectators

As the Falun Gong procession was passing the stage, the host said, "Here is the Falun Gong. They bring us a beautiful float and traditional Chinese dances. Let's give them a warm welcome." Immediately, there was a wave of cheers and applause.

Then the host came down from the stage and walked over to one practitioner. He asked the driver of the float what Falun Gong represents. The practitioner explained that Falun Gong was an ancient Chinese Qigong and it teaches people to live by the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." "Practising Falun Gong exercises can relieve stress and restore health," he said. The host agreed that it was more effective than medicine and wished practitioners a happy holiday.

The spectators applauded for them all along the parade route. Some said they were happy to see Falun Gong here and that if the practitioners returned to China they would be jailed. Obviously they knew about the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

The practitioner introducing the exercises on the float noticed the positive audience reaction, especially from the Chinese. Some greeted us with the respectful gesture of pressing their palms together.

The leader of the waist-drummers, Mr Zhang, said that Columbus discovered the "New World" for the European pilgrims. Our reason for celebrating the holiday is for all the people of the world to have a good future. Countless people in China are waiting for the truth about Falun Gong, their "New World."